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SeaEnergy is the latest marine renewables development company to choose Scotland as the base for its drive to develop, own and operate large-scale offshore wind farms globally. It is also among nine major developers and consortia which have today been granted exclusive development rights, by the Crown Estate, to 10 offshore sites around Scotland.

If operating at maximum capacity, these sites would have the potential to generate 6GW of offshore windpower - a figure which equates to Scotland's peak electricity consumption.

Opening SeaEnergy's new offices, First Minister Alex Salmond said that Scottish waters are the 'natural home' for marine renewables. He said:
"I am delighted to welcome SeaEnergy to Scotland. This is a company with ambition to be at the forefront of the growing marine renewables sector, a company that wants to lead the world in developing these technologies; in other words, a company which has found its natural home.

"Scotland has a fantastic competitive advantage in developing offshore renewables - with up to 25 percent of Europe's offshore wind, wave and tidal energy potential, and a world class scientific capacity and skills base. The current financial downturn illustrates the importance of capitalising on our unique assets.

"That is why today's landmark announcement is a huge boost not only in terms of our energy ambitions, but to the Scottish economy as a whole. Clean, green energy is one of Scotland's key economic strengths, and with a billion pounds of investment in recent months and a similar level in the pipeline, it is helping Scotland through tough economic times. Developments such as these will make a significant contribution to the 16,000 energy related jobs that we expect to create in Scotland over the next decade.

"In contrast, nuclear power is a busted flush, steadily declining in output to its lowest level in the 21st century as a result of unplanned outages. For Scotland, that proves - once again - that nuclear power is unreliable and ultimately unnecessary, with risks and uncertainties in waste disposal and the staggering costs of decommissioning.

"The Government will continue, through our newly established Marine Scotland agency, to deliver a framework of marine planning, simplified regulation, continued research and monitoring - to ensure that Scotland fulfils its potential to become the green energy powerhouse of Europe. Today's office opening is another step on that exciting adventure."

In May 2008 The Crown Estate requested initial expressions of interest from companies wishing to be considered for developing commercial windfarms within Scottish territorial waters. They received a high level of interest from 23 bid consortia.

The Crown Estate plans to have awarded all Zones to selected partners by the end of 2009 and the first round three wind farm sites are expected to be completed by 2018.

The exclusivity agreements announced today are designed to allow developers to begin initial survey and consultation processes for their sites, while the Scottish Government conducts a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Developers must obtain the necessary statutory consents and permissions from the Scottish Government before they can proceed with construction.

The SeaEnergy team most recently completed the Beatrice Wind Farm development for Talisman Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy. The world's first deepwater wind farm, and supported by £3 million of Scottish Government funding, the Beatrice project involved the installation of the two largest wind turbines ever deployed in offshore waters (5MW each).

Scottish Government targets are to meet 50 percent of electricity demand from renewables by 2020, and an interim target of 31 percent by 2011.

Total installed capacity of renewables in Scotland is over three Gigawatts. Adding in all the potential energy from consented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to over 5.5 Gigawatts (around 35 percent of electricity demand), meaning the Scottish Government is already set to surpass the 2011 target. In 2007, renewable electricity generation reached 20.1 percent of gross electricity consumption.